Smart water heater with improved temperature control

ABSTRACT

A system is disclosed that allows a user to set a temperature of a water heater by remote control where the water heater controls temperature based on waster use as measured by a water flow meter. The temperature can be an override temperature that is applied temporarily. The temperature can also be a profile that changes water temperature based on use such as dishwashing and clothes washing. The profile can also changed based on season of the year such as when children are in school and on summer vacation or there is a holiday period such as thanksgiving.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/469.682filed May 11, 2012, entitled Water Heater Having Improved TemperatureControl by Beckers, which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The embodiments discussed herein are directed to water temperaturecontrol of a water heater.

2. Description of the Related Art

Typical water heaters maintain a water temperature at a fixed settingthroughout the day. Energy can be saved by allowing the temperature tobe controlled based on need rather than a fixed setting.

SUMMARY

It is an aspect of the embodiments discussed herein to provide a waterheater that allows water temperature to be controlled based on need.

The above aspect can be attained by a system that allows a user to set atemperature of a water heater by remote control where the water heatercontrols temperature based on waster use as measured by a water flowmeter. The temperature can be an override temperature that is appliedtemporarily. The temperature can also be a profile that changes watertemperature based on use, such as bathing, dishwashing and clotheswashing. The profile can also changed based on season of the year suchas when children are in school versus on summer vacation or there is aholiday period such as thanksgiving.

These together with other aspects and advantages which will besubsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a water heater system in which temperature can becontrolled based on water use as measured by a water flow meter.

FIG. 2 shows a system in which a smart controller can remotely controlthe water heater system.

FIG. 3 depicts a table for controlling temperature based on time andday.

FIG. 4 shows a family profile table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The water heater 10 of FIG. 1 can provide significant energy saving whencompared to the typical water heater. The system, depicted in FIG. 1,includes smart water heater 10 that learns a family's water use pattern.It turns off the heating unit 12 in the tank 13 when the pattern showsthat there is no or low use expected, such as when a family of two isaway at work or asleep. The system includes a micro-controller 14 thatdetermines the water use pattern via readings of a digital water flowmeter 16. The programmable micro-controller 14 manages the power use viaa switching unit 18 that turns on or off the energy source of the waterheater 10. The switching unit 18 can be implemented as an electrical,gas or oil switching unit. For example, in a gas powered water heater agas flow shut off valve is utilized to control the energy source. As thefamily uses hot water, the micro-controller 14 measures the amount ofwater used, such as when a dish washer or clothes washer is being used.When the use is above a threshold, such as when a shower is in use or abath is drawn, the use and time of use can be recorded by the controller14. In this way a usage pattern, including water amounts, is createdthat can be used to turn off the unit when appropriate. When a water useperiod is approaching, such as when the family returns from work, thecontroller 14 can turn on the power source via switch 18 in time tobring the water up to a desired set temperature at or just before theperiod starts. A temperature sensor 20 can be used to determine a leadtime required for heating the appropriate of amount of water to thedesired temperature.

A water heater is typically located in a space in a residence orbuilding that is not conveniently accessible, such as a basement orattic. To allow for more flexibility in using the water heater 10 ofFIG. 1 a remotely controllable and programmable temperature controlsystem 30 or thermostat can be provided. As shown in FIG. 2, themicrocontroller 14 can be associated with an RF (radio frequency)receiver module 32, such as a Bluetooth™ receiver, that receives an RFsignal from a transmitter module 36, such as a Bluetooth™ transmitter.The transmitter module 34 receives a control signal from a wall typeprogrammable temperature controller 36, such as a thermostat (ormicrocontroller) that controls the temperature of water heater 10 bysending a temperature signal to the microcontroller 14 through thereceiver 32. In this way the set temperature of the water heater can beoverridden as desired. For example, assume while the members of thefamily are away from the house, the temperature of the water in the tank13 is allowed to drop. If a member of the family unexpectedly arriveshome and wants to take a shower, the controller 36 can be used tooverride the current temperature setting and change the temperature tothe previous period or a later period when the setting is moreappropriate for a shower. Or, the user can set a desired temperature,such as 110 degrees F. When the next period of control for the smartwater heater 10 arrives the temperature will again be controlled by thetemperature program based on water use.

Another override may be needed when the family has house guests and theneed for hot water rises. For example, if the two person family isvisited by a number of family members over a holiday period, such asthanksgiving and the weekend that follows, it may be appropriate that ahigher temperature be maintained throughout the period when visitors arein the house. As a result, the override discussed above set at thecontroller 36 can allow the user to set the length of the overrideperiods as well as the override temperature. The set temperature 42,such as the evening temperature, may be stored in an override table 44(see FIG. 3) in the controller 36 along with a start time/date 46 and astop time/date 48 where the example in FIG. 3 shows the temperature ofthe water heater being set to 170 degrees F. at 8 am Nov. 27, 2013 andkept at that temperature until 11 pm Dec. 1, 2013 at which time thecontrol returns to the expected water use controlled temperature.

The system 8 can also be used to provide a desired temperature atspecific times and periods during the day that can be in addition to thecontrol of temperature based on the water use pattern. For example, thewater temperature recommended for a dishwasher is between 130 and 170degrees F. If the temperature of the water during a dish wash cycle istoo low, a dishwasher typically turns on an electric heating element tobring the water temperature up to the desired setting. If this type ofheating can be avoided by supplying water at a sufficient temperature tothe dishwasher, savings of energy can occur. The recommendation for ashower is between about 95 and 107 degrees F. and the recommendation fora hot water clothes wash is about 130 degrees F. and a warm water washis 90-110 degrees F. The controller 36 of FIG. 2 can be a smart orprogrammable controller that allows a family to set temperatures attimes of the day or days of the week for needs such as dishwashing,clothes washing and bathing. For example, if a shower is typically takenin the morning the controller can set the temperature of the waterheater to 100 degrees from 6:30 am to 8:00 am each day and after 8:00 amthe temperature can return to a setting that may allow the temperatureto fall to a lower temperature while the family is at work. And if afamily typically washes dishes in the evening after supper, thetemperature can be set to 170 degrees from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm and after7:00 pm the temperature can return to a setting that may allow thetemperature to fall while the family is active and not asleep and mayneed hot water for hand washing, evening hot tea, etc.

The smart system 10 may be provided with a controller 36 that initiallyincludes a variety of typical family profiles that can be selectedduring installation as a starting point for water use control. Theseprofiles could be displayed on a display of the controller 36 to a userat the time of installation from a profile table 60 (see FIG. 4) thatincludes the number 62 of members of the family and temperature settings64 associated with times of day 66 and days of the week 68. FIG. 4 showspartial profiles for a family of two and a family of three.

The profiles can also change depending on the season of the year. Forexample, in the spring while school is in session, a family profile fora family of five (two adults and three children) may set the daytimetemperature of the water heater to 85 degrees F. from 8:00 am to 3:00 pmon week days. However, when summer vacation arrives, the temperaturefrom 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on weekdays could be set at 100 degrees F.

The controller 36 has been discussed as being a type of thermostat thatcan be mounted on a wall next to a house air temperature thermostat.However, the controller 36 could be other devices such as a tabletcomputer, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a desk top computer, etc.

The learning period of the smart system for learning a water use patterncan be set to a day, a week, a month, a season, a year, etc depending onthe needs of the user. For example, a mountain cabin in snow countrythat is used in the winter could have a learning period of the firstweek of January each year.

During the no use period that is discovered by the smart water heater,such as when a family is asleep, the temperature is allowed tocontinuously drop or fall until a period arrives when the temperaturesetting is above the current temperature. The system controller 36 mayallow the setting of a minimum temperature, such as 85 degrees F. belowwhich the water temperature in the tank 13 is not allowed to fall.

The smart controller 36 could be hardwired to the microcontroller 14much like air temperature thermostats are hardwired to afurnace/air-conditioner unit.

The embodiments can be implemented in computing hardware (computingapparatus) and/or software, such as (in a non-limiting example) anycomputer that can store, retrieve, process and/or output data and/orcommunicate with other computers. The results produced can be displayedon a display of the computing hardware. A program/software implementingthe embodiments may be recorded on computer-readable media comprisingcomputer-readable recording media. The program/software implementing theembodiments may also be transmitted over transmission communicationmedia. Examples of the computer-readable recording media include amagnetic recording apparatus, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk,and/or a semiconductor memory (for example, RAM, ROM, etc.). Examples ofthe magnetic recording apparatus include a hard disk device (HDD), aflexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape (MT). Examples of the opticaldisk include a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a DVD-RAM, a CD-ROM(Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), and a CD-R (Recordable)/RW. An exampleof communication media includes a carrier-wave signal.

Further, according to an aspect of the embodiments, any combinations ofthe described features, functions and/or operations can be provided.

The many features and advantages of the embodiments are apparent fromthe detailed specification and, thus, it is intended by the appendedclaims to cover all such features and advantages of the embodiments thatfall within the true spirit and scope thereof. Further, since numerousmodifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in theart, it is not desired to limit the inventive embodiments to the exactconstruction and operation illustrated and described, and accordinglyall suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, fallingwithin the scope thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A water heater temperature control system,comprising: a water tank with a heating element and a water flow meter;a temperature setting device allowing a user to set a temperature; acontroller that controls the water temperature of water in the tank viathe heating element responsive to a use pattern learned by thecontroller based on water flow detected by the flow meter and allows thewater temperature to be set by the setting device.
 2. A system as inclaim 1, wherein the temperature to be set comprises temperature andtime profiles that can be selected by a user.
 3. A system as in claim 2,wherein the profiles are indexed by a number of people in a family.
 4. Asystem as in claim 2, wherein the profiles are indexed by seasons of ayear.
 5. A system as in claim 2, wherein the profiles comprisetemperature settings for devices that use hot water.
 6. A system as inclaim 5, wherein the devices that use hot water comprise a dishwasher, aclothes washer and a bathroom.
 7. A system as in claim 1, wherein thesetting device controls the controller via remote control.
 8. A systemas in claim 7, wherein the setting device communicates with thecontroller via a radio signal.
 9. A system as in claim 1, wherein thetemperature to be set comprises an override of a temperature maintainedbased on water flow where the override is maintained until a new periodof control based on water flow starts.
 10. A system as in claim 1,wherein a temperature maintained based on water flow is a minimumtemperature.
 11. A method, comprising: controlling water temperature ofwater in a hot water heater responsive to water use measured by a waterflow meter; allowing a temperature of the water to be changed during thecontrolling.
 12. A non-transitory computer readable storage storing amethod, the method, comprising: controlling water temperature of waterin a hot water heater responsive to water use measured by a water flowmeter; allowing a temperature of the water to be changed during thecontrolling.